Kiplagat leads Daegu entries

FOR all the talk of major championship marathons failing to attract the best athletes in the world, eight of the world's top eleven will be contesting the 26.2-mile event in Daegu.

Here's my formchart which outlines the leading contenders and their most recent marathon form.

		DOB	PB	Marathons in past twelve months
1	Edna Kiplagat	15/9/79	2:20:46	1st New York 2:28:20, 3rd London 2:20:46
2	Aselefech Mergia	23/1/85	2:22:38	1st Dubai 2:22:45, DNF London
3	Sharon Cherop	16/3/84	2:22:42	1st Toronto 2:22:43, 3rd Boston 2:22:42
4	Yoshimi Ozaki	1/7/81	2:23:30	1st Yokohama 2:23:56
5	Aberu Kebede	12/9/89	2:23:58	1st Berlin 2:23:58, 9th London 2:24:34
6	Priscah Jeptoo	26/6/84	2:22:51	1st Turin 2:27:02,1st Paris 2:22:51
7	Yukiko Akaba	18/10/79	2:24:09	1st Osaka 2:26:29, 6th London 2:24:09
8	Atsede Bayisa	16/4/87	2:22:04	2nd Chicago 2:23:40, 5th Dubai 2:25:08, 5th London 2:23:50
9	Bezunesh Bekele	18/9/83	2:23:09	2nd Berlin 2:24:58, 4th London 2:23:42
10	Wang Jiali	1/2/86	2:26:12	1st Beijing 2:29:31, 3rd Xiamen 2:32:00, 1st Dailan 2:26:12

Absentees:

Liliya Shobukhova – the Russian is aiming for a hat-trick of titles at the Chicago Marathon in October.

Mary Keitany – the London Marathon winner is aiming for 2012 instead.

Bai Xue – the champion from Berlin is injured.

Zhou Chunxiu – the Olympic bronze medallist from China missed out on selection.

Irina Mikitenko – will be going head-to-head with Paula Radcliffe in Berlin next month.

My prediction

1. Edna Kiplagat, 2. Yoshimi Ozaki, 3. Priscah Jeptoo

Kiplagat emerged at the core of world marathon running as she prevailed in a slow-run race in New York and she also finished third in a fast-paced contest in London in April. The Kenyans generally perform much better than Ethiopians in hot and humid conditions too. Japanese marathoners are always well prepared for major championships marathons and Yoshimi Ozaki seems to stand the best chance. She's finished in the top two of four of the five marathons she's contested and she won a silver medal in 2009.